The Princess of Sona
by Knight of the Crusade
Summary: The story of a princess seeking adventure and facing off against an evil witch.
1. Malelock

The Princess of Sona

Once a upon time, in the kingdom of Sona, a tiny European medieval kingdom which was beautifully furnished with rolling meadows, open moors, and forests of pine trees. A king and Queen ruled the land with justice and fairness (except to witches) was beloved by all, but the most beloved was the Princess Shannon. The princess had long golden wheat colored hair and river blue eyes. Her beauty attracted many suitors from all over Europe even an embassy from the Moor kingdom in Africa which promptly ignored. More, impressive to the various townsfolk and the peasants was the spirit of generosity, the princess inherited from her parents. She gave willingly to all the poor, lame, ill, improvised, and orphaned people in the kingdom. Despite the peace and happiness that reigned in the kingdom, underneath the surface evil boiled like in a witch's cauldron torching all those who came across it. Hot and burning like hellfire.

For the witch, Malelock, the happiness was in contrast to her personality. She longed for a chance to overthrew and defeat the king and queen. But what really got her streamed was the Princess. Malelock hoped to find a way to destroy the Princess and finally gained control of Sona. She muttered to herself "There must be a way to kill a princess." Malelock turned to the black cat sitting on the hearth of the fireplace and shot magic out of her fingers towards the kitty. The cat transformed into a young lady petrified with fear that bowed and said "You're bidding mistress." Malelock smiled grimly at the lady "Yes, Duchess I have a mission for you". The Duchess bowed again and replied "The mission madam." "Go to the court in the city and gain the Princess' acceptance and friendship." Malelock ordered. "As you wish." The Duchess replied. "Take care not to fail or you might remain a cat much longer than a week". Malelock said harshly. Malelock thought about the Duchess for a minute. She was the youngest of the Duke of Richton's brood and sought magic as a way to expand your importance. However, so far she had spend much of the time as a various animals for failing Malelock's tests or missions. Malelock actually liked the Duchess, but punished her to toughen her up for the future. Surely, Malelock pondered, days wasted as a fish, cat, frog, caterpillar, or the worse a pig would make her the best witch in the land after Malelock herself. Malelock also thought about her magic. Transformation was her best especially on humans. She never made it permanent, but preferred to keep her former victims in fear of another transformation. She particularly enjoyed transforming the vain, slender Earless into a whale. Malelock still laughed at the cries of the Earless about her bloated body. For days, the Earless moaned until Malelock relented and turn her back into her fussy self. Malelock promised to do worse to Princess Shannon. "Yes, the Princess will certainly suffer." she crackled.


	2. The Royal Guests

Chapter 2

Princess Shannon was in the courtyard of the massive, stone-gray castle of the capital city walking through the garden of the flowers. Butterflies flied through the sky floating on the light breeze. Shannon sighed contentedly. "What a wonderful day." she thought. Indeed it was the sky was blue as her eyes and sun as golden as her hair. Shannon was reading The Princess and the Frog, her favorite book. The magic and the romance excited her greatly. She always had an interest in the dark arts despite the history of royals like herself bearing the brunt of enchantments, witches mustered. She desired to learn magic secretly and waited patiently for an opportunity to seek out a witch and learn the arts of magic. Her parents, not knowing of her wish, nevertheless ordered her to avoid all contact with magic, re-forcing the warning of royals inherit nothing but grief from magic. The queen told Shannon severely "Surely, you don't wish to remain a frog the rest of your days struck in some pond eating flies and dodging ruffians hunting you for an evening meal." Her mother's rebuke still rang in Shannon's ears. However, Shannon conjured a solid plan (well, she thought it was) to disguise herself and take on a false name to blend in the magic community.

Suddenly, a trumpet cried out and the sound of horseshoes beating the rocky path echoed and vibrated against the stones of the fortress. "Another suitor." Shannon thought glumly. She was not in opposition to marriage; Shannon just wanted an adventure before her life's purpose be converted into a baby's factory pumping an heir, and other children for diplomatic considerations. She sighed and thought "Best to go now and have the introduction over with." As if her parents read her thoughts a page came dashing towards her panting and sweating heavily. "You're Highness" he panted "The King and the Queen request your presence for our illustrious guests from the neighboring king-." Shannon tuned him out; she had heard the same speech and orders before at least ten times. "I am coming." She assured the page.

The King and the Queen were waiting for Shannon in the throne room patiently. The throne room was painted a brilliant gold. The splendor was similar to the color of gold from the mines of El Dorado, historians might write and discuss the issue, but to first-time visitors discover it hard to catch their breaths completely. Many paintings covered the walls of the room. The paintings showcased the adventures and heroic acts of former majestic rulers fighting battle against Sona's foes. Battles of long ago, some mythic, some exaggerated, but all vital to Sona's pride as a kingdom. The throne room was finished off with cloth articles of various blue and gold patterns. All of this beautiful bounty overwhelmed the visitors' servants, but the guests kept a straight face, not daring to show a single movement of expression. They acknowledge the beauty and were planning their appreciation for the real treasure of this tiny, fly-speck kingdom, the Princess Shannon.


	3. The Prince

Chapter 3

The King and Queen of Sona were used to the disdain publicized by arrogant rulers, who laughed at the lack of real military might, and easy, care-free rule Sona's rulers always exercised over their numerous people. However, most kings, emperors, dukes, and other noble blood quickly dropped or hide their superior thoughts and attitudes to carry off a beautiful product of Sona's royal line. Many a bard sang of Sona's princess as _more pretty than the first blooming rose in the springtime and more sweet than the honey of the bees. _Thus the King and the Queen were not flattered by the show of respect by the visitors or nor recognize the false gestures.

The guests were the rulers of the kingdom of Antion, a powerful bullying neighbor to Sona. Like most bullies, their bark was more dangerous than their bite, yet still capable of demolishing Sona's meager defenses on the border between the kingdoms. Antion's king started the conversation "Ah, my fellow king, how be it your days". Typical diplomatic words exchanged between rulers. The King responded blandly "Surely you know, minor disturbance there and there." "Yes, such annoyances." Antion's ruler said and continued with a slight smirk "I find it very efficient to let the soldiers, take care of the trouble." he finished.

"Well, the King replied "such bloodshed certainly ruined the streets and appealing to visitors." Antion's leader smiled and whispered words to his scribe, who quickly jotted down his words. The King was annoyed but the Queen swiftly asked her counterpart about the latest fashions out of Italy. The King smiled his wife stopped a possible diplomatic crisis from blowing up over a possible insult, his mouth might have uttered. "So, what honor do we own this visit for?" he asked. Antion's king smiled "As you're aware, my son Prince Adam is of the marrying age and so is your attractive daughter." he finished with a flourish. The King grimaced. Another marriage proposal, he had to deal with. He was planning to marry Shannon for a while.

Shannon was hurrying through the corridors to the throne room. She didn't want another lecture about the importance of avoiding tardiness. She turned the corner and ran into a tall, good-looking, black-haired, young man. He was glancing at a painting of a famous battle, specially admiring the crisp trim of the soldiers' coats. He looked around to see who hit him and saw Shannon looking dazed and confused. "My apologizes madam, I didn't see you." He said with sympathy. Shannon laughed it off "It was my fault, I wasn't not looking." The young man took in the expensive, colorful dress and stated "You must be the princess." "Yes, I 'm." Shannon said embarrassed. She browsed him over and over and noted his sharp and fancy clothes and sword. "You must be the important visitor." she curtsied respectfully. He raised his eyebrows and grinned "No, you must be thinking of my parents, my lady." Shannon was surprised and frightened too. Surprise came from the fact, he was all alone and frightened at the prospect of another marriage proposal from another prince. Shannon asked "A Prince right?"

The King told Antion's king bluntly "The Princess is not in our country's plans at the moment." Antion's king frowned "Surely, you must realized the advantages of such a match." The King replied "We do, but at only a huge advantage to ourselves." He hated to even say he was considering plans of marriage for his daughter, but he needed to tell the other king in diplomatic terms, not a chance. The back-and-forth diplomatic maneuvers continued unabated to the distress of the two queens. Both queens had to deal with their respective husbands when events didn't go as planned.

Adam smiled "Prince Adam at your service". Shannon was suddenly filled with disgust at the sight of another suitor despite his politeness. She snapped at him with anger "Listen, I know your type always excepting a princess to fall for your knight-in-shining-armor act; well I'm not your typical damsel-in-distress." She dashed off as fast, as a girl can run in a dress, to her chambers. Adam was stunned and thought curiously _"What did I say?''_ Honestly, he really was interested in marrying Shannon, he was more intrigued in the bachelor life. The life included long kisses with the fairer sex in the closets of the palace. He sighed and muttered about the limitations of young men against marriage plans.


End file.
